Easy Rasmalai

Rasmalai is a soft and creamy South Asian dessert made with milk powder dumplings cooked in sweet, cardamom-infused milk. While the traditional recipe is made by curdling fresh milk to prepare the dumplings, our easy version uses milk powder, making it a quicker and easier recipe to make at home.

For our recipe, we have used Choice Moo Full Cream Milk Powder provided to us by one of our partners, STO People’s Choice. This milk powder has a rich, creamy taste and dissolves easily, making it a great choice for preparing soft, melt-in-your-mouth desserts like rasmalai.

Yield: 8 rasmalai

Ingredients:

For the dough

• ½ tbsp melted ghee
• 1 room temperature egg
• ½ cup Choice Moo Full Cream Milk Powder
• ½ tbsp flour
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp cardamom powder
   

For the milk mixture

• ½ cup Choice Moo Full Cream Milk Powder
• 2 cups water
• 5 cardamom pods (crushed)
• ½ cup sugar
• Pinch of saffron (optional)
• 1 tbsp chopped almonds or pistachios
• ½ tbsp rose water

Instructions:

1. In a small bowl, mix ½ tbsp melted ghee with 1 room-temperature egg. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine ½ cup Choice Moo Full Cream Milk Powder, ½ tbsp flour, ¼ tsp baking powder, and ¼ tsp cardamom powder.
3. Add the egg mixture and gently knead with your hand until a soft dough forms. If the dough is too sticky, add 1 tsp Choice Moo Full Cream Milk Powder at a time until it becomes smooth and easy to handle. The amount of extra milk powder needed may vary depending on the size of the egg. The dough should be soft, smooth, and slightly tacky, but not sticky.
4. Cover the dough with another bowl or plastic wrap and let it rest for 10 minutes. This helps the milk powder absorb the moisture, making the dough smoother and easier to roll.
5. Lightly grease your hands with a little ghee. Divide the dough into 8 equal portions (about 14 to 15g each), roll each into a smooth ball, and gently flatten it slightly. Keep the dough balls covered to prevent them from drying out before cooking. Rolling them until smooth helps prevent cracking.
6. To make the milk add ½ cup Choice Moo Full Cream Milk Powder and 2 cups of water to a jug and mix well. It might be slightly more than 2 cups. But we only need 2 cups of milk for the next step.
7. In a medium sized pot, combine 2 cups Choice Moo Full Cream Milk, 5 crushed cardamom pods, ½ cup sugar, and a pinch of crushed saffron. Stir until the sugar dissolves.
8. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat for 5 to 6 minutes, then reduce the heat to low and let it come to a gentle simmer. Do not let the milk boil rapidly after adding the dough balls.
9. Carefully add the dough balls to the simmering milk. Cover with a lid and cook over low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, gently flipping them after 5 minutes.
10. Keep the milk at a gentle simmer throughout the cooking process. The dough balls will almost double in size while cooking. If the milk starts to rise, slightly open the lid to prevent it from overflowing and stir gently if needed. The rasmalai is ready when the dumplings are soft, spongy, and cooked through.
11. Stir in ½ tbsp rose water and sprinkle 1 tbsp chopped almonds or pistachios over the top. For the best results, refrigerate the rasmalai for at least 2 hours before serving. This allows the dough balls to absorb the milk and the flavours to develop.